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File 1450/1919 ‘Mesopotamia & Kurdistan: Geological Reports on’ [73v] (161/522)
The record is made up of 1 volume (244 folios). It was created in 1 Dec 1917-26 Jun 1922. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
(b) Cap rock. Both at El Qaiyarah and Hit where we have had the opportunity of testing the
position of the oil horizon we found that it was situated at the base of the Lower Ears with approxi
mately 600 ft. of marls and gypsum above. Here the presence of the Upper Ears and its position
with regard to the ridge is evidence that there has been no considerable erosion of the beds below it.
(cj Geological Structure. A ridge of secondary gypsum occurs running in a N.-W.—S.-E.
direction ; we are led to believe that this represents an anticline or dome by the following four
considerations :—
(1) A parallel direction with the Hit and Naphata folds, and with every other fold that we
have so far seen in Mesopotamia.
(2) The fact that in many other places the form of the ground is dependant on the structure
and an anticline is left as a ridge ; d.£., Jabal Hamrin, El Qaiyarah.
(3) Upper Ears, in which we have found a S.-W. dip in one place, outcrops along a portion
of its S.-W. flank at the base of the ridge.
(4) We believe that secondary gypsum, occurring in the quantity which is found here,
indicate the presence of Lower Ears gypsum beds close below the surface.
We conclude, therefore, if later work supports our present opinion, that it can be looked upon as
good ‘ wild-cat ” territory and worth testing for oil.
The above are our conclusions based on the evidence that we have so far obtained, but, before
coming to a final decision as to the value of these areas for the purpose of drilling for oil, a much
more widely extended examination should be carried out and expeditions should be made into
country, which for the moment it is impossible to visit.
SUMMARY.
1. The area considered in the report is the Euphrates valley from Hit to Hillah, a distance of
about 120 miles measured from town to town.
GEOLOGICAL FORMATIONS.
2. Three formations occur ; they are, beginning with the oldest :—
Euphrates Limestone .—A massive, white limestone, containing fossils in places. The top is
exposed at Hit, and 150 ft. minimum are exposed 12-13 miles to the west of the town. This
limestone is the source of the water of the Hit seepages.
Lower Fa)s. The lower half, composed of gypsiferous yellowish marls with massive gypsum
bands, contains the oil-bearing horizon.
The upper half has a much greater development of gypsum beds, with thin limestone bands,
and a weaker development of marls. The thickness is about the same as at El Qaiyarah.
Upper Ears.—Is composed of red gypsiferous marlsr whitish green and red sandstones, and
impure limestones.
SEEPAGES AND ASPHALT DEPOSITS.
3. Seepages occur in three localities. ' #
Hit.
(a) There are many bitumen seepages scattered over a wide extent of country, as shown
on the map.
a de P 0 ^ in ^ i sul P hur - and with a certain salt content rises from strata below the oil horizons,
and brings up vyith it lumps and strings of bitumen. The consistency of the bitumen is such that
its specific gravity cannot be measured with an hydrometer.
presentTeepaies. ^ aSPhalt WhiCh ^ approximatel >’ 15 al ’ d 30 ft. respectively above thfe
Aboujir, Aswasil, Jabhah.
mao ‘sca^r'is ThT" 8 T' ' 10t eXamine the see P a g es - Their position is shown on the
map scale 1 8 miles. They are bitumen seepages, those at Aboujir forming a lake From
accounts they appear to resemble the Hit seepages.
Naphata.
A seepage of oil, of specific gravity. 9S0 approximately, occurs at Ain an Nafat.
GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE.
of Hit) if f nAv'Es ^‘“direcHon 001 ! 1 ! 6 Tf t0 * he WeSt of Kubais hah (13-14 miles to the west
ot Hit) m a lx. VV. b.-b. direction. It pitches gently to the S.-E. The seem°es of Hit are
situated where the Lower Ears crops out on the gently dipping N.-E. limb beepa “ es ot Hlt
(b) Aboujir, Aswasil, Jabhah.-We believe the structure to be the same as that of Hit
beds o/th^Lower Far’s are "exposed: b, ' 0ad ab -‘ N-W.-S.-E. Only the upper
beds, wfth /S a 0 dJ away from thUridge "eadsTl 1 to^u^neerth 0 ! 1 “ If ge ’ f1anked by Upper F ? rS
running in a N.-W.-S.-E. direction from the 3 Hllage of SNskimdmfylh': ant,CHne ” ^ ^
About this item
- Content
This volume contains correspondence, memoranda, reports, telegrams and maps and geological drawings, regarding the geological examination of regions in Mesopotamia and the prospect of petroleum [oil] in these areas.
Included in the volume are the following reports:
- ‘MESOPOTAMIA GEOLOGICAL REPORTS No. 7-11’ (‘No. 7’ is crossed out and replaced with ‘No. 8’), 1920 (ff 9-22)
- ‘GEOLOGICAL REPORT (Mesopotamia) No. 7 NOTES ON THE UNDERGROUND WATER RESOURCES OF NORTHEN MESOPOTAMIA’, 1920 (ff 25-31)
- ‘GEOLOGICAL REPORT (Mesopotamia) No. 6 NOTES ON ZAKHO AND DOHUK [Duhok]’, 1920 (ff 41-44)
- ‘MESOPOTAMIA GEOLOGICAL REPORT 1919’, 1920 (ff 57-109)
- ‘REPORT OF THE BITUMINOUS DEPOSIT NEAR KIFRI’, 1919 (f 114)
- ‘GEOLOGICAL REPORT (Mesopotamia) No 5. THE KIFRI DISTRICT’ (ff 115-116)
- ‘GEOLOGICAL REPORT (Mesopotamia) No 4. RECONNAISSANCE REPORT ON THE COUNTRY ON THE RIGHT BANK OF THE RIVER TIGRIS BETWEEN BAIJI AND MOSUL’, 1919 (ff 122-129)
- ‘GEOLOGICAL REPORT (Mesopotamia) No 3. RECONNAISSANCE REPORT ON THE EUPHRATES VALLEY BETWEEN HILLAH AND HIT’, 1919 (ff 131-143)
- ‘GEOLOGICAL REPORT (Mesopotamia) No 2. PRELIMINARY NOTES ON THE JABAL HAMRIN’, 1919 (f 143)
- ‘GEOLOGICAL REPORT (Mesopotamia) No 1 ON THE DISTRICT OF QAIYARAH [Al Qayyarah]’, 1919 (ff 146-151)
- ‘APPENDIX. Translation of a Captured Document. Report of a Tour to the Coal Area and Petroleum Springs in the Zone of the Sixth L. of C. Inspectorate’, 1919 (ff 156-158)
- ‘No 13. Notes on the Jabal Gilabat [Qilabat] between Chinchal-al-Kabir and Qarah Tappah’, 1919 (f 164)
- ‘No 14. Notes on the Jabal Hamrin between Qarah Tappah and Table Mountain’, 1919 (ff 164v-167)
- ‘No. 10. Notes on the Geology of the Country between Tazah Khurmatu and Tauq [Tukhama Khulu]’, 1919 (ff 182-185)
- ‘REPORTS ON THE PROSPECTS OF PETROLEUM IN THE BAGHDAD WILAYAT [Vilayet]’, 1918 (ff 187-201)
- ‘Report No 9. Oil in the Kirkuk Anticline’, 1919 (ff 204-205)
- ‘No 3. Report on the Prospects of Obtaining Oil in the Jab-al-Khanuqah, S.E. of Sharqat [Ash Sharqat]’, 1918 (f 207)
- ‘No 4. Prospects of Obtaining Oil in the Jab-al-Qaiyarah and its continuation, the Jab-al-Najmah’, 1919 (ff 208-209)
- ‘No 5. Possibilities of Obtaining Oil in the Jab-al-Mishrak [Al Mishraq] and Country West of Hammam Ali [Hammam al Ali]’, 1919 (ff 210-211)
- ‘No 6. The Country between Mosul and Quwair [Al Kuwayr] on the Greater Zab, and its Prospects as Oil-producing Territory’, 1919 (ff 211v-212)
- ‘Report No 7. Sulphur near the Confluence of the Greater Zab with the Tigris’, 1919 (f 213)
- ‘No 8. Prospects of Obtaining Oil in the Quwair Dome’, 1919 (ff 213-214)
- ‘Appendix to Report No. 4, on the Jab-al-Qaiyarah Oil-field’, 1919 (f 214v)
- ‘Report on the prospects of obtaining Oil in the Jabal-Hamrin and Jabal- Makhul between Tikrit and Sharqat’, 1918 (ff 217-218)
- ‘Odd Notes on the Country between Tikrit and the Jabal-Hamrin and Jabal Makhul’, 1918 (ff 219-220)
- ‘PRELIMINARY REPORT ON THE PROSPECTS OF PETROLEUM IN THE BAGHDAD WILAYAT’, 1918 (ff 233-236).
Also included in the volume are the following maps and geological drawings:
- ‘TO ACCOMPANY GEOLOGICAL REPORT MESOPOTAMIA No 8’, 1920 (f 20)
- ‘To ACCOMPANY GEOLOGICAL REPORT MESOPOTAMIA No 8 ON THE SULAIMANIYAH DISTRICT’, 1920 (f 21)
- ‘TO ACCOMPANY GEOLOGICAL REPORT MESOPOTAMIA No: 7a. THE WATER RESOURCES OF THE MANDALI-BADRAH DISTRICT’, 1920 (f 30)
- ‘GEOLOGICAL REPORT (MESOPOTAMIA) No 7 NOTES ON THE UNDERGROUND WATER RESOURCES OF NORTHERN MESOPOTAMIA’, 1920 (f 31)
- ‘TO ACCOMPANY GEOLOGICAL REPORT No 6’, 1920 (f 44)
- ‘TRANSVERSE SECTION. JABAL HAMRIN’ (f 88)
- ‘Diagrammatic Section across Jabal Hamrine [Hamrin] in the Table mountain area, shewing [showing] relationship of Pos Tertray [Post-Tertiary] Gravel to the Tertainis [Tertiaries]’ (f 168)
- ‘Red Clay & Sandstone Series Transverse section across Jabal Gilbat’ (f 169)
- ‘QĀRAH TAPPAH’, 1918 (f 170)
- ‘CHINCHĀL-TALISHĀN’, 1918 (f 172)
- ‘SHAHRABĀN’, 1917 (f 174)
- ‘MANSURĪYAH AL JABAL’, 1918 (f 176)
- ‘1 Diagrammatic Section N[orth]. of the Tuz Khurmatu’ (f 183)
- ‘2 Diagrammatic Section oposite [ sic ] Sulaiman Beg, just N[orth]. of the stream’ (f 183)
- ‘3 Diagrammatic Section oposite [ sic ] Sulaiman Beg just S[outh]. of the Stream’ (f 183v)
- ‘Transverse Section across Jabal Nasaz near Gil’ (f 185)
- ‘GEOLOGICAL MAP OF NAFT KHANA DISTRICT OF MESOPOTAMIA’ (f 198)
- ‘THE PETROLEUM DEPOSITS OF HIT’ (f 199)
- ‘GEOLOGICAL RECONNAISSANCE IN N.E. MESOPOTAMIA’ (f 200)
- ‘SECTION FROM SHAHRABAN TO CHAH SURKH [Chiya Surkh]’ (f 201)
- Transverse Section Maps of Jabal Hamrin and Jabal Makhul (f 220).
The volume comprises internal correspondence between British officials of different departments. The principal correspondents are: the Civil Commissioner, Baghdad; the Under-Secretary of State, India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. ; the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. , Baghdad; officers of the Imperial Mineral Resources Bureau; and officers from the Petroleum Department.
The volume includes a divider which gives the subject number, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (244 folios)
- Arrangement
The volume’s contents are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 246; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
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- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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- Title
- File 1450/1919 ‘Mesopotamia & Kurdistan: Geological Reports on’
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- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:19v, 22r:29v, 32r:43v, 45r:87v, 89r:167v, 177r:182v, 184r:184v, 186r:197v, 202r:219v, 221r:245v, back-i
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